Peter Eisenman – Dezeenhttps://www.dezeen.com
architecture and design magazineFri, 09 Dec 2016 17:15:06 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1Berlin Holocaust memorial wouldn't be built today, says Peter Eisenmanhttps://www.dezeen.com/2016/12/07/berlin-holocaust-memorial-wouldnt-be-built-today-says-peter-eisenman/
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/12/07/berlin-holocaust-memorial-wouldnt-be-built-today-says-peter-eisenman/#respondWed, 07 Dec 2016 20:07:34 +0000https://admin.dezeen.com/?p=1018292The memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin wouldn't get built in today's xenophobic social climate, according to its architect Peter Eisenman. The American architect, whose Holocaust memorial opened in 2005, said that growing hatred and anti-semitism across Europe would prevent the project from being realised if proposed now. "I believe that my

The American architect, whose Holocaust memorial opened in 2005, said that growing hatred and anti-semitism across Europe would prevent the project from being realised if proposed now.

"I believe that my Holocaust memorial in Berlin could no longer be built today," he told German newspaper De Zeit.

"The social climate has changed; much that has previously been considered acceptable is now questioned."

The memorial comprises 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in rows across an undulating landscape, which visitors can walk through. An adjacent underground space holds the names of approximately three million Jewish victims of the Holocaust genocide, which took place during the second world war.

Peter Eisenman. Portrait courtesy of Vanderbilt University

During the interview, Eisenman also blamed US president-elect Donald Trump for promoting xenophobia in America, and spoke about dealings with him as a developer.

"I was already tricked by Trump," he said. "In the 1980s, when I had an office with Jaque Robertson, he came by and said, 'hey, I want you to make some towers here in Manhattan'."

"We did that then and should have received $100,000 for the plans," Eisenman continued. "But then he said, 'I do not want that and will not pay you anything'."

He echoed US architect Doug Staker's comments about how Trump's real-estate developments reflect the values that the incoming president embodies, and compared the buildings to the Soviet architecture of 1930s Moscow.

"The real problem is his buildings," said Eisenman. "One has to look at the political controversy in the mirror of this architectural malaise. These buildings stand for the whole Trump phenomenon."

Eisenman, aged 82, rose to prominence as one of the New York Five – along with Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk, Richard Meier and Michael Graves. He became known for his deconstructive architectural style, with projects including the Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio and the City of Culture of Galicia in Spain.

]]>https://www.dezeen.com/2016/12/07/berlin-holocaust-memorial-wouldnt-be-built-today-says-peter-eisenman/feed/0Rem Koolhaas is stating "the end" of his career, says Peter Eisenmanhttps://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/09/rem-koolhaas-at-the-end-of-career-says-peter-eisenman/
https://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/09/rem-koolhaas-at-the-end-of-career-says-peter-eisenman/#commentsMon, 09 Jun 2014 19:00:00 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=474000Venice Architecture Biennale 2014: curator Rem Koolhaas has used the biennale to announce the end of his "hegemony" over the profession, according to architect Peter Eisenman (+ interview). "He's stating his end," said Eisenman, adding: "Rem Koolhaas presents the Biennale as la fine [the end]: 'The end of my career, the end of my hegemony, the

"He's stating his end," said Eisenman, adding: "Rem Koolhaas presents the Biennale as la fine [the end]: 'The end of my career, the end of my hegemony, the end of my mythology, the end of everything, the end of architecture'."

The 81-year old American architect, who helped the Dutch architect at the start of his career, said that Koolhaas, 70, was "the totemic figure" of the last 50 years and compared him to Le Corbusier's dominance of the first half of the twentieth century.

"I think it's very important to have lived in the time of Rem, like to have lived in the time of Corbusier," said Eisenman, recalling the day he turned up outside Le Corbusier's Paris atelier in 1962 but felt too intimidated to ring the doorbell: "I think that students today feel the same way about the mythology of Koolhaas."

Called Fundamentals, the biennale opened to the public on the weekend and includes a central exhibition called Elements, which focuses on parts of buildings such as stairs, escalators and toilets rather than buildings.

The Elements exhibition focuses on individual aspects of buildings

Eisenman said the Elements show was like language without grammar: "Any language is grammar," he said. "So, if architecture is to be considered a language, 'elements' don't matter. So for me what's missing [from the show], purposely missing, is the grammatic."

Eisenman, head of Eisenman Architects, has known Koolhaas since the 70s, when the Dutch architect studied at Eisenman's Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS) in New York.

"I helped publish his first book," said Eisenman. "I got the money to publish Delirious New York, I was on the jury that gave him the first prize he ever won for his architecture. I gave him an office where to write Delirious New York, so I know Rem from the beginning."

Eisenman made the comments in Venice on Friday, where he was attending the opening of an exhibition about the Yenikapi Project, a vast new development in Istanbul he designed in collaboration with Aytaç Architects.

Valentina Ciuffi: Let's talk about Elements [the exhibition occupying the Central Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale]. You've known Rem from the very beginning – what do you think of the core show at his biennale?

Peter Eisenman: First of all, any language is grammar. The thing that changes from Italian to English is not the words being different, but grammar. So, if architecture is to be considered a language, 'elements' don't matter. I mean, whatever the words are, they're all the same. So for me what's missing [from the show], purposely missing, is the grammatic.

Look, 50 years ago, we knew that Modernism was dead. Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright: all dead. We didn't know what the future was but we knew all this was dead.

In '68 we found out what the future was going to be: the revolution in '68 in the schools, in culture, in art etc: all was changed. We are now 50 years from '64 and the totemic figure of these 50 years, the symbolic figure? Rem Koolhaas, right?

Rem Koolhaas presents the Biennale as la fine [the end]: "The end of my career, the end of my hegemony, the end of my mythology, the end of everything, the end of architecture." Because we don't have architects [in the biennale]. We have performance, we have film, we have video; we have everything but architecture.

So Rem is saying: "You know, I want to say: I don't do this, I don't do this, I don't do this, but I also want to tell you that I don't want you to tell me my end. I'm telling you the end." He makes the point, bonk, like that.

Valentina Ciuffi: He's stating his end?

Peter Eisenman: He's stating his end. And he's finished. And we don't know what's coming in four five years. 2018, like 1968, could be a revolution. Who knows?

Valentina Ciuffi: So this end is the start of something new?

Peter Eisenman: Always. History always goes like this.

Valentina Ciuffi: But when he says no to archistars, yes to architecture…

Peter Eisenman: He is the archistar! He is the origin of the archistar. He was there at the beginning.

Valentina Ciuffi: You taught all the archistars. They all came from your academy [the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York].

Peter Eisenman: He is the archistar and now he is the curator star. He's killed all the archistars, and now he is going [to be the] single curator star.

Valentina Ciuffi: You are one of the few people able to be so straight with him because…

Peter Eisenman: I know him very well. We started together way back. I helped publish his first book. I got the money to publish Delirious New York, I was on the jury that gave him the first prize he ever won for his architecture. I gave him an office where to write Delirious New York, so I know Rem from the beginning.

Valentina Ciuffi: So you think this idea of taking elements and not thinking about the grammar is totally…

Peter Eisenman: Well it's Rem. It's Rem because he doesn't believe in grammar. That's Rem, and that's good. Look, when he was at the Architecture Association School in 1972, in the spring of '72 when he quit – because he never finish school, you have to understand – because he went to the new director and he said, quote: "I want to learn fundamentals. Where can I learn fundamentals?"

And the director looked at him and said: "We don't teach fundamentals here. We teach language." And then he quit. So there is a relationship between quitting the school in 1972 and Fundamentals today. Okay?

Valentina Ciuffi: You are perhaps one of the the few people who can be so direct about Rem.

Peter Eisenman: I love Rem. I think it's very important to have lived in the time of Rem, like to have lived in the time of Corbusier. In '62 I went to Paris and I stood on the doorstep of Le Corbusier's atelier at 35 rue de Sèvres with my mentor Colin Rowe. He said, "Ring the doorbell!" And I said: "What I'm going to say to this guy? What am I doing here?"

And I think that students today feel the same way about the mythology of Koolhaas: "What am I going to say to him?" So very few people would challenge him. If you ask him questions; yesterday at the press conference people were asking him questions and he said: "I don't answer questions like this. You should stop asking questions."

So he's a very, very clear and a good person to put this biennale on. And sarà la fine dell'architecttura [it will be the end of architecture].

]]>https://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/09/rem-koolhaas-at-the-end-of-career-says-peter-eisenman/feed/16Cidade da Cultura de Galicia by Peter Eisenmanhttps://www.dezeen.com/2010/04/20/cidada-da-cultura-de-galicia-by-peter-eisenman/
https://www.dezeen.com/2010/04/20/cidada-da-cultura-de-galicia-by-peter-eisenman/#commentsTue, 20 Apr 2010 12:18:03 +0000http://www.dezeen.com/?p=75414Photographer Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre has sent us his photographs of the Cidade da Cultura de Galicia by Peter Eisenman, nearing completion in Galicia, Spain. Due to open later this year, the project will incorporate a museum, library, archive facility, arts centre and performing arts centre. The buildings will be linked by five main pedestrian pathways

The information that follows is from the Foundation for the City of Culture of Galicia:

Situated in Santiago de Compostela, an emblem of European cultural tradition whose historic city has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985, the City of Culture of Galicia rises on the top of mount Gaiás as a formidable architectural milestone for the new century.

Designed by the American architect Peter Eisenman to host the best of cultural expressions of Galicia, Spain, Europe, Latin America and the World, this new "city", inclusive and plural, shall contribute towards meeting the challenges of the information and knowledge society.

Its unique buildings, interconnected by streets and plazas equipped with state-of-the-art technology, make up a space of excellence for reflection, debate and actions orientated towards Galicia's future and internationalization.

Its spaces shall host services and activities devoted to the preservation of heritage and memory, the study, research, experimentation, production and dissemination in the field of literature and thinking, music, drama, dance, film, the visual arts, audiovisual creation and communication.

As a place for convergence and international projection, the City of Culture of Galicia shall revitalize in the 21st century the twofold vocation -voyager and hospitable- of Galician people, contributing from a cultural standpoint to the social and economic development of the land.

The Xunta de Galicia held in 1999 an International Architecture Competition to build the City of Culture of Galicia. Out of the eleven proposals submitted, the project designed by Peter Eisenman was finally chosen, according to the Jury's decision, for its singularity both in terms of the concept and of the art, as well as its exceptional match to the site.

Galician Library

The Library of Galicia is due to open towards the end of 2010, designated as Galician Book and Reading Year, as well as being Xacobeo (the Holy Year of Saint James).

Destined to become the flagship of Galicia's library system, its mission is to assemble, preserve and disseminate Galicia's bibliographical heritage including all printed, sound, audiovisual and IT production. Likewise, it shall represent the Galician library system in Spain and before all international organizations, forums and platforms of the world of libraries.

It shall promote and disseminate Galician culture, enabling access to Galicia's bibliographical heritage, either in person or virtually, and it shall be a key element for any cultural activity related to books, reading and libraries. In this framework, special funds shall be allocated to promote literature in Galician language for children and youths, enhancing its value and cultural diversity.

Both the general public and professionals shall have access to relevant information for cultural and educational uses.

Galician Archives

The Galician Archives, situated in a building adjacent to the Library of Galicia, shall also open to the public towards the end of 2010.

Destined to become the flagship and center of reference for Galicia's archive system, its mission is to receive, keep and render available to citizens all public or private documents in any type of format (paper, video, photographs, audio, etc.) that should be preserved due to their value.

By virtue of its dual nature: administrative and historical-cultural, it shall also keep the documents issued by the activities of the Xunta de Galicia and its dependencies, ensuring access for citizens both at the facilities as well as via the Internet.

By managing the documentary heritage, the Galician Archives shall become a safeguard for a significant part of Galicia's memory, fostering the recovery and valuation of the documentary collections relevant to emigration.

Educators, researchers, creators and artists, as well as the general public may access the documentation they may need for administrative, research or cultural purposes.

Galician Museum

Conceived as a space for exhibitions to provide an international projection for the heritage and history of Galicia, as well as to simultaneously host international projects, construction of this building is well advanced and it is expected to open during 2011. Its spectacular façade, close to 43 meters high, and over 16,000 m2 of surface area make the Museum one of the most remarkable and unique buildings in the City of Culture of Galicia.

The schedule for the building is based on new concepts and exhibition techniques, including a permanent museum project devoted to the past and present of Galicia and to portray the keys to the future. On a parallel basis, large-format temporary exhibitions will be hosted and supplemented by training and dissemination activities that shall render it an active, fully up-to-date center, with ongoing renewal.

Centre for Performing Arts

Situated at the heart of the City of Culture of Galicia, these facilities are currently undergoing the initial stages of construction.

With the aim to adapt its features to the rapid changes in the world of the performing arts, the Escenario Obradoiro, originally conceived as a Music Theater shall now become the ideal space to host World-class music, drama and audiovisual performances.

It shall promote the projection to the World for Galician output in these fields as well as international exchange and cooperation.

Its main auditorium, with a multi-purpose stage and a seating capacity for 1,300 is to be complemented with other lesser spaces, where small-scale projects may be hosted and adapted to interdisciplinary experimentation and creation, as well as for training and professional exchange activities. Thus, the Escenario Obradoiro shall not only become a space of excellence for exhibition in the field of the performing arts, but also a resource center for creation.

International Art Centre

Situated on the northern side of mount Gaiás and next to the Museum of Galicia, it is undergoing the preliminary stages of construction.

The architectural project, originally designed to host a Museum of Communications, as well as of new technologies in communications and audiovisual production, has been altered to turn it into a center for modern art and the artistic and cultural relations between Latin America and Europe.

Today, given the preliminary stage of the construction process, there is the opportunity to tie in creativity and technology, reconciling, deepening into and expanding the expected content without having to bring changes to the works.

Central Services

Together with the Library and Archives of Galicia, the building for Central Services shall be inaugurated towards the end of 2010. It shall host the management and logistics services for the City of Culture of Galicia.

Covering an area of 7,500 m2, the building is structured on five floors that will host offices, a staff canteen, two smaller and one larger multi-purpose rooms (the latter sized 500 m2),, capable of hosting a variety of events.

Environment

Inspired by the historic city of Compostela, the complex shall be articulated by streets, colonnades, gardens and plazas, transcending the mere concept of a cultural center to become a city with a life of its own, where visitors may not only enjoy the programming scheduled for each building, but also go shopping, eating out or just simply strolling.

Five pedestrian streets link all the buildings to a main central plaza, surrounded by 25 hectares of parkland with walkways for strolling and leisure.

The built-up area includes parking space for around one thousand cars, a main road with access from downtown Santiago and the highway AP-9, enabling access from all over Galicia.

The Hejduk towers also deserve a special mention. They were designed in 1992 by the architect John Hejduk (New York, 1929-2000) to be built as a part of the Botanical gardens in Belvís, a project that never materialized.

When Hejduk passed away, Peter Eisenman suggested to erect them at the City of Culture as a memorial to their author, a friend of his and colleague in The New York Five, the group that best represents the spirit of neo-rationalism in architecture.

See also:

]]>https://www.dezeen.com/2010/04/20/cidada-da-cultura-de-galicia-by-peter-eisenman/feed/34Memorial Blocks Berlin by Daniel Clementshttps://www.dezeen.com/2008/01/20/memorial-blocks-berlin-by-daniel-clements/
https://www.dezeen.com/2008/01/20/memorial-blocks-berlin-by-daniel-clements/#commentsSun, 20 Jan 2008 21:39:58 +0000http://www.dezeen.com/2008/01/20/memorial-blocks-berlin-by-daniel-clements/Architectural photographer Daniel Clements has won the architecture category of the International Color Awards for photography, with this picture called Memorial Blocks Berlin. The image, shown uncropped above, is of the Holocaust Memorial, Berlin, designed by Peter Eisenman. The photograph is part of a series by Clements called Silent Memory, a "lyrical photographic travelogue founded

The image, shown uncropped above, is of the Holocaust Memorial, Berlin, designed by Peter Eisenman.

The photograph is part of a series by Clements called Silent Memory, a "lyrical photographic travelogue founded in the frameworks of architecture and fine art in both Eastern Europe and Russia". See the whole series here.